← All articles

Know this look-alike

Honey Mushroom Look-alikes: Deadly Galerina and Webcaps

These look-alikes can be deadly. Get the identification right before you eat anything. Honey mushrooms, velvet foot, and blewits all have deadly mimics. Deadly Galerina grows on wood and carries the same toxin as the death cap, and toxic webcaps (Cortinarius) cause delayed kidney failure. Take a spore print and check the ring and gill color every time.

The dangerous species

Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata)
Alan Rockefeller · CC BY
⚠ do not eat

Deadly Galerina

Galerina marginata

How to tell it apart

  • Initially hemispherical and then broadly convex or almost flat, the hygrophanous caps are rufous brown in the centre, fading to honey yellow towards the edge. First Nature ↗
  • The fungus is typically reported to grow on or near the wood of conifers, although it has been observed to grow on hardwoods as well. Wikipedia ↗
  • The spore print is rusty-brown. Wikipedia ↗
  • It contains the same deadly amatoxins found in the death cap (Amanita phalloides). Wikipedia ↗
Webcap (Deadly Cortinarius species) (Cortinarius rubellus / C. orellanus (and related species))
Albert Cardona · CC BY
⚠ do not eat

Webcap (Deadly Cortinarius species)

Cortinarius rubellus / C. orellanus (and related species)

How to tell it apart

  • The tawny-brown to orange cap is at first convex, flattening at maturity but retaining a slight or sometimes pronounced umbo. First Nature ↗
  • Cortinarius rubellus contains orellanine, a powerful mycotoxin. Wikipedia ↗
  • In humans, a characteristic of poisoning by the nephrotoxin orellanine is the long latency; the first symptoms usually do not appear until 2–4 to 14 days after ingestion. Wikipedia ↗

Edibles people confuse with these

If you are foraging any of these, rule out the look-alikes above every time.

The notes above are an educational starting point, not a substitute for a field guide or an experienced forager. If you are not completely certain, do not eat it.